Decolonising NCL

Allyship is a process of working in solidarity with marginalised groups to learn about their lived experiences, understand their needs and issues, challenge discrimination and elevate their voices. Specifically, white allyship is the process of supporting racial minorities and challenging racism and unconscious bias. Allyship involves listening to under-represented voices, educating yourself in racial justice, boosting the voices and opinions of BAME colleagues, and speaking up to challenge racism in all settings. An important role of a white ally is to continue the conversations about race and racism with other white people, both to challenge views and work with other white allies to pool efforts to achieve racial justice.

This is more than simply not being racist. Anti-racism involves having policies in place that do not allow the continuation of racist practices or attitudes and actively promote racial tolerance.

Casual racism distinguishes between the explicit forms of racism, such as using slurs or physically assaulting somebody on the basis of their race, and more subtle and sinister forms of racism. This racism can include speech and behaviours that treat cultural differences – such as forms of dress, cultural practices, physical features or accents – as problematic, resulting in disapproving glances, exclusionary body language, and marginalising people’s experiences as invalid. This everyday racism is so commonplace that it’s often normalised and infused into daily conversations through jokes and stereotypes or through unconscious body gestures and expressions. The ‘everyday’ nature of racism can go unnoticed and many people do not question whether their behaviour or language is racist, as they only see explicit racist attacks as racism. All racism needs to be addressed, including the use of racist jokes and stereotypes that some people do not view as serious or discriminatory.

The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, or disability. This means particular groups of people are treated in a different, notably worse way, than people who are not part of these groups and do not have these characteristics. Discrimination involves restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to members of another group, and can lead to discriminatory thoughts, actions and behaviour impacting on marginalised groups lives.

An ethnic group or ethnicity is a named social category of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups such as a common set of traditions, ancestry, language, history, society, culture, nation, religion, or social treatment within their residing area.

A lack of equality or fair treatment in the sharing of wealth or opportunities. Inequalities can be structural and personal, highlighting disparities/differences between the experiences of different groups or individuals. Here, racial inequality is a term used to highlight the unfair treatment of non-white people who experience a lack of equality in societal areas like employment, housing, access to healthcare, education and more.

A form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political injustices regarding wealth, income, criminal justice, employment, housing, healthcare and education; it is racism embedded in organisations and seen as normal practice. Institutional racism is demonstrated by the existence of institutional systemic policies, practices and economic and political structures that place minority racial and ethnic groups at a disadvantage in relation to an institution's racial or ethnic majority This can be also used to refer to systemic racism.

A statement, action or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalised society or group such as an ethnic minority. Examples of microaggressions can be found in the Recognising Microaggressions section.

Race is a term used to group humans, based on shared physical or social categories, into categories viewed as distinct by society. Race is often regarded as a social construct; that is, it is not intrinsic to human beings but rather an identity created, often by socially dominant groups, to establish meaning in a social context. Race does not have an inherent physical or biological meaning, although it can be partially based on physical similarities within groups. It is conceptualised in different ways worldwide, with the subjugation of groups who are defined as ‘racially inferior’ being common across different definitions. Such racial identities reflect the cultural attitudes of imperial powers dominant during the age of European colonial expansion; particularly the view that black people are racially inferior to white people (see definitions for: White Supremacy, Colonialism). Whilst race is a social construct, this does not mean people do not experience material effects in their lives due to how their race is perceived, often resulting in discrimination.

Equal and fair treatment for all races. Racial justice involves having policies, beliefs, practices, attitudes, and actions to promote equal opportunity and treatment for people of all races. It is an individual and an organisational responsibility.

A slur is an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo, intended to shame or degrade an individual or a group. A racial slur is a word or phrase specifically intended to degrade members of a particular race. These are unacceptable for people to say from outside that group, and some racial slurs have long histories rooted in slavery and subjugation of particular races.

Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. Racism encapsulates the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.

This is described as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a dominant or privileged racial or ethnic group. However, white people do not experience systemic discrimination on the basis of their race, and their position as the dominant and privileged racial group is not harmed as ethnic minorities lack the power to damage their reputation or position. An important aspect of racism is the use of power and authority to subjugate racial and ethnic minorities, which cannot be reversed in the current societal perceptions of race. Claiming reverse racism is seen to be a reactive response to people feeling their position as the dominant racial group is threatened by another, less powerful race, and thus is not considered a legitimate form of racism.

These terms are often used interchangeably but mean different things. Systemic racism is prejudice and discrimination that is based solely on race and occurs in and affects the whole societal system of a nation. Systemic racism explains racism which is widespread and affects multiple aspects of society, for example media representation, education curricula and business policies. Racism is embedded into the institutions and organizations of society, such that laws, rules, procedures, etc. are influenced by and perpetuate racism—and typically in ways that are invisible to the white dominant culture. Systemic racism in social institutions like policing contributes to the disproportionate violence against black people, demonstrated through disproportionately high rates of arrest compared to white people.

Systematic racism is prejudice or discrimination methodically implemented according to a fixed plan or procedure against a race. It explains racism that is methodical, organised and intentional. For example, a specific clause in a housing policy that bans non-Caucasian people from buying a house is an example of systematic racism.

The discomfort, defensiveness and anger on the part of a white person when confronted by information about racial inequality and injustice. White fragility often occurs when white people feel they’re being accused of racism during conversations about race, creating barriers to progress as they react with defensiveness and are reluctant to engage in productive conversation. This stems from white privilege, as many white people have never had to confront race in the same way as racial minorities have, leading to a fear of addressing racial inequalities and reacting negatively. This is something many white people experience to different degrees and is a crucial feeling to acknowledge and work through by engaging in conversations about race and allyship.

The inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterized by racial inequality and injustice. White privilege means that white people haven’t had their lives made more difficult, or been discriminated against, because of the colour of their skin.

The belief that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society, to the exclusion or detriment of other racial and ethnic groups. This is particularly enacted against black people, and white supremacy has been rooted in racism and colonialism throughout history. This belief has constructed a political ideology of white domination over other racial groups, seen through the Alantic slave trade, apartheid and Jim Crow laws. In academic usage, particularly in critical race theory or intersectionality, "white supremacy" can also refer to a social system in which white people enjoy structural advantages (privilege) over other ethnic groups, on both a collective and individual level, despite formal legal equality.

When the dominant power (eg white hegemonic) takes something from the subjugated group but do not have to experience the suffering the subjugated person goes through. For example: White American Kylie Jenner making hair braids a fashion trend when they have cultural significance to the balck community but were not seen as ‘cool’ until Kylie Jenner’s appropriation. The difference between a cultural exchange and appropriation is that an exchange does not come with a power dynamic, whereas appropriation involves the more powerful/privileged individual taking from a culture that is not theirs and not giving anything back to that community.

This is the attempt to distract from the original trajectory of a difficult conversation. A person who is attempting to derail a conversation is usually doing so in order to interrupt a sense of internal discomfort they are experiencing, whether or not they are aware of it. In this sense, you could view derailing as a “flight” response – the person feels that they or their position is threatened, and so they say whatever is necessary in order to escape that feeling. For example: “I would rather us talk about the weather or something, speaking about race is too political. Anyway, look at that sunshine!”

This is a type of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment.

A statement, action or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalised society or group such as an ethnic minority.

When a person polices someone’s emotions, this most frequently occurs when the perpetrator has privilege and they wish for the conversation to be objective. However, the person they are in conversation with has subjective experience of oppression. For example: “There’s no need for you to get so aggressive, we’re just talking about race”

The technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter-accusation or raising a different issue. For example, someone saying during a discussion about police brutality of white police officers attacking a black civilian: “But what about black on black crime?!”

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. At the height of its power and control, it was the largest empire in history. Due to the extent of its control, the British Empire has influenced many political, linguistic and cultural legacies for former colonies.

The writings or other works that are generally agreed to be good, important, and worth studying. In academia, for example, the literary canon is dominated by European, white, male authors, which creates assumptions that works by non-White, non-European and non-male authors are not important or worth studying.

The policy or practice of a wealthy or powerful nation's maintaining or extending its control over other countries, especially in establishing settlements or exploiting resources, generally with the aim of achieving economic dominance. Often used to describe the experience of colonies, countries which have been subject to a period of political control by a more powerful country. The indigenous people of these areas often have the cultural norms of the colonising country imposed upon them, and their natural resources and labour taken advantage of to benefit the colonial powers.

A country which possesses, or formerly possessed, colonies in different parts of the world. Even when the colony is no longer under control of the more powerful country, the colonial power can still be felt, particularly through legacies of influences to culture, language and politics.

The action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area. One common example of colonisation is the British colonization of eastern North American during the 17th and 18th century. Whilst colonialism explains the practice of imposing colonial power on existing indigenous groups, colonisation refers specifically to the migration of people from the colonising country to another area to establish a settler colony. This process means those from the colonising country have more power over the indigenous people, due to their links to a country of greater wealth and power.

Curriculum typically refers to the knowledge and skills students are expected to learn in an educational programme, which includes the learning standards or learning objectives they are expected to meet; the units and lessons that teachers teach; the assignments and projects given to students; the books, materials, videos, presentations, and readings used in a course; and the tests, assessments, and other methods used to evaluate student learning. An individual teacher’s curriculum, for example, would be the specific learning standards, lessons, assignments, and materials used to organize and teach a particular course.

Fundamentally, decolonisation is the action or process of a state withdrawing from a former colony, leaving it independent. In education, decolonisation is confronting and challenging the colonising practices that have influenced education in the past, and which are still present today.

Decolonising the curriculum includes a fundamental reconsideration of who is teaching, what the subject matter is and how it’s being taught. Academia is built upon ingrained structural inequalities which prioritise particular systems of knowledge, learning and particular people who develop theories and information. Academia often prioritises Eurocentric, white, male thinkers and thoughts, with these forming the curriculum and other thinkers and knowledge being erased. Decolonising the curriculum aims to expand curricula to include scholarship from non-white, non-Eurocentric authors and researchers. Decolonising the curriculum aims to challenge who we consider to be an intellectual authority, to give opportunities for BAME people to see themselves reflected as legitimate producers of knowledge.

This is a long, complex process that needs to begin with staff and students in universities acknowledging the limited scope of current education and how this is failing its students and staff from experiencing the rich, culturally diverse education that exists outside of the narrow scope of Eurocentric white male knowledge. “It is not simply about the token inclusion of a few BAME writers, but an underlying transformation from a culture of denial and exclusion to a consideration of different traditions of knowledge. To diversify our curriculum is to challenge power relations and call for deeper thinking about the content of our courses and how we teach them.” - James Muldoon

A group of countries ruled by a single person, government, or country. There have been many examples of empires throughout history (e.g. British Empire, Persian Empire, Roman Empire etc) which are characterised by a major political power exerting rule over a number of countries. Empires can expand through colonisation, which involves claiming foreign lands for the empire and establishing settlements.

The state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other territories and peoples. While related to the concepts of colonialism and empire, imperialism is a distinct concept that can apply to other forms of expansion and many forms of government. Imperialism and colonialism both dictate the political and economic advantage over a land and the indigenous populations they control. Although imperialism and colonialism focus on the suppression of another, if colonialism refers to the process of a country taking physical control of another, imperialism refers to the political and monetary dominance.

Pedagogy is defined simply as the method, and practice, of teaching. It encompasses teaching styles, teaching theory and feedback and assessment. When people talk about the pedagogy of teaching, they will be referring to the way teachers deliver the content of the curriculum to a class.

Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the human consequences of the control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. Importantly, postcolonialism does not argue that the influence of colonialism is over once countries have withdrawn from colonies, or that we live in a world unaffected by colonialism today. Rather, it acknowledges that the world still retains many structural features of colonialism, including the continuation of British monarchy rule over Commonwealth realms today, and seeks to examine these legacies and impact.

In social science, agency is defined as the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. By contrast, structure are those factors of influence (such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, ability, customs, etc.) that determine or limit an agent and their decisions.

Diversity is about taking account of the differences between people and groups of people and placing a positive value on those differences. Diversity is about celebrating and valuing how different we all are. This is strongly linked with promoting human rights and freedoms, based on principles such as dignity and respect. Diversity is about recognising, valuing and taking account of people's different backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and experiences.

EDI is a common acronym used in companies and organisations to define Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. These words have further important definitions, as sometimes the meanings can be conflated.

Equality is about ensuring everybody has an equal opportunity and is not treated differently or discriminated against because of their characteristics. The Equality and Human Rights Commission defines equality as: ‘Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents. It is also the belief that no one should have poorer life chances because of the way they were born, where they came from, what they believe, or whether they have a disability’.

The social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group. Hegemony can exist at an individual, group or state level; for example, the geopolitical and cultural dominance of one country over a less powerful country can be seen in the European colonial hegemonic influence over countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Hegemony affects the world view of the people subject to it, often making it difficult for people to recognise the influence, as much of the influence is embedded in long-standing societal structures.

Ideology is a set of beliefs or principles, especially one on which a political system, party, or organization is based, which influence the way individuals think, act, and view the world. Ideology is viewed as a set of ideas that become embedded in people’s world view; these ideas may or may not have basis in reality but become part of people’s truth by their consistent repetition by powerful groups. Ideologies become part of societal structures and assumptions about the world. Racism is an example of an ideology that views particular racialised groups as Other and blames undesirable social conditions on them. Political ideologies such as republican and Marxist are other examples, alongside cultural and social ideologies of feminism and individualism.

Inclusion is the action or state of including or being included within a group or structure – feeling part of the group to the same extent as other people. Organisations (including student societies) need to make sure they instill an inclusive culture facilitating people to proactively engage. Feeling included is a sense of being a part of a community or organisation.

Coined by Kimberlee Crenshaw, black lawyer and critical race theory scholar, intersectionality explains the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. This theoretical framework aims to explain how people experience life differently due to their particular social characteristics; for example, a black, transgender, heterosexual women experiences different levels of advantage and disadvantage to a white, cisgender, gay man. The combination of these characteristics influences privilege and discrimination and was first created to understand how women of colour were oppressed within society.

In early waves of feminism, scholars saw gender as the core characteristic that impacted a woman’s place in society. They ignored race and assumed all women shared the same white, middle-class experiences, so saw their disadvantages as coming from their gender. This exclusion of black women’s experiences, which are impacted by both racism and sexism, is challenged by intersectionality and encourages people to consider how these components of our identity interact and impact our position and experiences in the social world.

Created by black feminists Moya Bailey and Trudy, misogynoir explains the discrimination towards black women who experience misogyny on account of their gender and racism on account of their race. It is grounded in intersectionality theory, but more specifically focuses on the anti-black sexism experienced by black women. The term is often used in discussions about discrimination directed towards black women in popular music.

The action of bringing someone or something under domination or control. The term is often used in relation to colonial subjugation of a country, race or ethnic group.

Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one’s tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing. Biases can be held towards any group: race, age, gender, gender identity, physical abilities, religion, sexual orientation, weight, and many other characteristics are subject to bias. Challenging these implicit biases is important for everyone to question who they value and who they do not and how their behavior and decisions may be influenced by their unconscious biases.